Saturday, August 18, 2012

August 18

"During his Watergate testimony, John Dean told of an interview with John Mitchell. Mitchell reminded Dean, in a telling Chiamus, that 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going!' Dean read it as an exhortation not to defend the Nixon administration but, as Mitchell himself was doing, to save his own hide." --Richard A. Lanham, a Handlist of Rhetorical Terms (second edition, 1991), p. 8; links provided by PDPR compiler; image from

PODCAST

ASP Podcast – Public Diplomacy and National Security - americansecurityproject.org: "Paul Rockower [the Director of Communications for American Voices] joined ASP to discuss his experiences of public diplomacy, cultural links and American Voices’ Youth Excellence on Stage (YES) Academy. Rockower recently returned from the Kurdistan region of Iraq, where American Voices has been conducting cultural diplomacy. Listen in to hear more about how cultural diplomacy and better overseas communication are national security imperatives for the U.S.

US, Pak to revive strategic talks soon - saach.tv: "The United States and Pakistan are trying to revive their annual strategic dialogue, disrupted by recent tensions between the two allies, and may announce the renewal at a high-level meeting in New York next month. ... The third ministerial session of the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue was held in Washington in October 2010.

The next session was to be held in Islamabad but it was postponed due to a rapid deterioration in bilateral ties, which began with the US raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad and worsened when another raid killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November. The dialogue includes 11 core groups: Economy and Trade, Energy, Defence, Security, Strategic Stability and Non-Proliferation, Law Enforcement and Counter-terrorism, Science and Technology, Education, Agriculture, Water, Health and Communication and Public Diplomacy." Image from article

Propaganda, Soft Power, and Frank Miller - The ogre of the tale: "Le Monde comment[s] on Miller’s [Frank Miller, American writer, artist, and film director] proclaimed intention to ressuscitate the propagandistic quality of comics on behalf of the all-American project: pure and strong heroes of democracy fighting evil, suspiciously effiminate, authoritarian, perverse Easterners. Superman, Capitain America, enlisted in supporting American power and American values. What is the most interesting here, in the context of this blog, is what the incident shows us about propaganda. Propaganda, as Miller seems to conceive it, is mostly about selling a foreign policy and a national project to a domestic audience.

'Smashing Capitain America' kicks Hitler’s butt in 1943 not so much to convince the Germans to abandon their war effort, but to tell Americans that they are strong, that they fight the good war and will win. Propaganda has a double meaning, domestic and foreign. And actually most public diplomacy, at least in countries like the US, aims at domestic audiences. On the other hand, comics, like 'Hollywood-diplomacy', give us another example of soft power: the crafting and diffusion of notions about society, the relations between men and women, liberty and justice, free speech. Comics are part of the external image the US show to the world. This might be too much for Frank Miller, who obviously has come to think his work in terms of wartime propaganda, but the 'liberal' comics he decries might do more to sell America and American values abroad than his efforts. What gives the best image of the US abroad: manly all-American heroes smashing caricaturized muslims, or the very possibility that a DC Comics superhero could openly be a homosexual?" Miller image from

U.S. Propaganda and the Cultural Cold War - James Chisem, e-ir.info: "[T]he efficacy of Western Cold War propaganda has been overstated. ... [P]rivate economic interest groups and civil society organisations often hindered, and in some cases undermined, the implementation of a coherent propaganda strategy. ... The United States was a relative latecomer to the world of mass propaganda and public diplomacy. Whilst the British and French had come to comprehend the potential benefits offered by supplementing conventional methods of statecraft with cultural and economic initiatives during the twilight years of the nineteenth century, decision-makers on the other side of the Atlantic were reluctant to implicate the ideas that had underpinned the domestic body-politic in the formulation and implementation of foreign policy.

Their hesitancy stemmed from a widely held belief that culture 'belonged to the realm of creativity, public taste, and free enterprise', as well as from a tendency in educated circles to associate state propaganda with manipulation and deception. The emergence of structural and ideological bi-polarity in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War led to a fundamental reappraisal of this stance in Washington. In the period 1945-1947, a number of key political figures successfully argued that the propagation of ideas should be considered as one of the principal conduits for countering Soviet aggression in Eastern Europe and halting the global expansion of Marxism-Leninism." Image from

Korean Embassy Cultural/Public Affairs Intern, Fall 2012 - internweb.com: "The Korean Cultural Center Washington DC at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea is seeking intern applications for the Fall 2012 semester. The mission of the Korean Cultural Center is to promote better understanding of Korea and its culture among the U.S. public in the Washington DC region through a variety of public events and programs. The Korean Cultural Center also serves as the embassys public affairs office, working behind the scenes to ensure that the Republic of Korea is well represented in the United States. Students and young professionals interested in gaining experience in public diplomacy, public affairs, cultural affairs, event planning, journalism, project management, or related fields are encouraged to apply."

Nazi's - John Brown, Notes and Essays: "As I compile a blog on public diplomacy (and its problematical relationship to propaganda), why is it that I regularly see Nazi, when referred to in the plural, cited as Nazi's?"

Image from entry, with caption: At least this guy .... can punctuate. No wonder hes an allAmerican nut with a whatyamacallit after about on his sign

RELATED ITEMS

For peace with Iran, prepare for war - Amos Yadlin, Washington Post: The best assurance the U.S. president can give Israel is a commitment to, if all else fails, resort to military action to protect critical U.S interests. But time is running out to make this commitment credible to the people of the United States, Israel and Iran.

What the Olympics medal count says about who runs the world - Richard N. Haass, Washington Post: What does the final medal tally reveal about contemporary theories of international relations? First things first. Those worried about the decline of U.S. power can exhale. This is still a world of American primacy; the United States is first among unequals. But primacy is not dominance. Nonpolarity, not unipolarity, not even multipolarity, defines the 21st century. See also.

Syria's online battlefield: Who is winning the war? - Shahzad Abdul, le Monde/Worldcrunch: “Internet will be a tyrant’s best friend,” Evgeny Morozov, a Belarusian researcher specialized in the political and social implications of new technologies, predicted several years ago. During the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, which were often labeled “2.0,” social networks and smartphones played an important role in popular mobilizations.

In Syria, the Ba’athist regime seems to have learned its lessons from the Arab Spring, and is thinking hard about how to deal with cyber-dissidence. Beyond the traditional armed conflict on the ground, a second front has emerged online, rife with fake information, manipulation, propaganda and counter-propaganda. It is hard to untangle truths from falsehoods. Image from article, with caption: A Free Syrian Army member holds a weapon and a Syrian revolutionary flag during a training session on the outskirts of Idlib, Syria

Can the US and its Allies arbitrarily Violate International Law? - Rick Rozoff and John Robles, globalresearch.ca: Rick Rozoff discusses General Assembly resolutions on Syria and how the US and its allies are circumventing standard procedure in order to win a propaganda battle. “Everything that the West and its Persian Gulf allies have done over the last seventeen months has worsened the situation, [costing] more Syrian lives,” Rozoff said

Nonstop Propaganda: Public-relations “improvements” on the New York subway - city-journal.org: Benjamin A. Plotinsky: There’s something disturbing about government-sponsored advertising. You don’t have to cite the extremes—the state-celebrating telescreen news in 1984, the ubiquitous slogans of Mao’s China—to agree that the subway is no place for propaganda. But as it happens, the MTA is already verging on Orwellian menace. “We have big plans to make buses move faster,” reads a nebulous MTA ad posted on the side of some city buses. “Please don’t get in the way. The fine for each violation is $115 or more.” And that’s all, with no explanation of what constitutes a “violation” or how the hapless citizen can avoid being fined.

Anti-war propaganda posters exhibited in Hue - talkvietnam.com: These posters, by Picasso, Matta, Pignon, etc., have been preserved by Vietnamese painter Le Ba Dang since 1968. On the Day of Intellectual Circles for Vietnam, March 23, 1968, Le Ba Dang and many famous painters signed the Call for Intellectuals to act for ”A day of intellectuals for Vietnam” in Paris, to call for the end of the Vietnam War. Painter Le Ba Dang is now 90 years old and lives in France but Mr. Dang always wishes for Hue to become a center of arts of Vietnam.

After the exhibition, Dang will present all posters and other artworks to the Thua Thien-Hue authorities, including 8 anti-Vietnam War posters (1968), 37 posters on the October Revolution by Russian artists (1966), 10 pottery artworks, four wood statues, one large-sized painting, two carpet paintings, two paper paintings. So far, Dang has presented 390 artworks to Hue city, which are displayed at the Le Ba Dang Art Center. Image from article

War II Movies - Propaganda and Patriotism - myezinearticledirectory.blogspot.com: Throughout the early the main 1940's, Hollywood made numerous World War II movies that not just sought to entertain, but additionally to heighten the spirit of "patriotism" in the American people. These films would influence the entry of america to the war and support our military effort when finally involved. War was raging in the uk and for the duration of Europe while America was still in its isolationist period. Director Alfred Hitchcock released Foreign Correspondent in 1940 allowing American audiences an insightful check out the war without actually providing the identity of the enemy. Charlie Chaplin made a decision to become more direct. In the truly amazing Dictator (1940), directed by Chaplin, that he gave us a scorching spoof of fascism and the Nazi party. Individuals were easily identified behind the thinly veiled character names used, and portrayed while the dictatorial, power hungry, tyrants they were. The production was brilliantly written and executed by Chaplin and continues to be regarded among the most classic films of the century. Following the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, America entered to the war. Hollywood would now begin the release of a few of the most popular War movies ever. Republic Images film Flying Tigers (1942) showcased American combat pilots fighting for China against Japanese invaders right before the invasion of Pearl Harbor. The film stared John Wayne, who for the duration of his career would end up being one of the more patriotic a-listers ever. 1942 honored the tragic, but courageous story concerning the battle of Wake Island. As the events were grimly real, the Hollywood portrayal was inaccurate. The film gave audiences the impression that the island's defenders fought to the final man, when in reality, the overwhelming odds and repeated assaults by Japanese troops resulted in the surrender of the island. However, Hollywood hadn't failed within their telling of the story since the film Wake Island served its primary purpose regarding war time propaganda and fueled feelings of patriotism. In 1943 the film classic Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, plainly positioned the Nazis while the villains in the war and depicted the conquered folks of Europe as glorified, courageous resisters of Nazi Germany.

German Propaganda on the Eastern Front: Surrender Leaflets from the Siege of Leningrad - navonanumis.blogspot.com: Propaganda was a large part of the war on the eastern front. Shown below is a propaganda leaflet issued by the German army in January 1943 at the height of the Leningrad siege to be dropped over Soviet army positions. Such leaflets were dropped by the millions from airplanes and also by special shells to Red Army positions to demoralize the troops and convince them to surrender. Each leaflet was a “pass” for surrender.

These leaflets were proactively destroyed by the Soviet political commanders to prevent total capitulation of the Red Army. Any Soviet soldier found in possession of these surrender leaflets were shot to death immediately. Translation of text in Russian as follows: "Soldiers of the Leningrad front! Only a month ago you received a medal for liberation of "the city of Lenin," and now you suddenly again forced to go to your death to liberate the same Leningrad! Already in the Spring 250,000 of Russian soldiers were killed or wounded for this so called "liberation" and now look how many of your comrades died in the past few days of your offensive. Why would you die? So your wives and children, your fathers and mothers further starve? So Jews and their friends further took the last grain from starving farmers? Drop your weapons! Defect to Us! Many of your commanders already defected to us and they now know that your commissars lie about terrible conditions in German POW camps. The more of you surrender and defect to us the sooner this terrible war to end and the hated Bolshevism rule to end and to begin a new happy life for the Russian People!"

British propaganda: the Napoleon myth - mikerendell.com: "In just about every cartoon of Napoleon the Emperor is shown as being of below-average height. Cartoonists loved to belittle the man – and yet he was five feet six inches tall (at a time when the average Frenchman was three inches shorter than this!) We even talk of a ‘Napoleon Complex’ (short man, big chip on shoulder) and yet his lack of stature seems to have been a product of British propaganda. Perhaps it stemmed from the fact that he surrounded himself with officers from the Imperial Guard, who were chosen for their tall stature and whose height was then topped by plumed helmets. But I suspect it was all down to an attempt to make Napoleon appear weaker and more insignificant – the equivalent of the Second World War contention that Hitler only had one, and that Himmler was very similar…As an example of a beautifully scurrilous cartoon here is

one of my favourites: taken from Teggs Caricatures and entitled 'The Arch Dutchess Maria Louisa going to take her Nap.' The Emperor had divorced his first wife Josephine, and had chosen as his new bride someone he had never met and who only learned of her betrothal after the French and Austrian governments had already completed all negotiations. Maria Louisa was only nineteen, and had been brought up to detest the French, so her marriage must have been something of a shock to her system to say the least. But ‘she did her duty’ and bore a son within a year of marrying the Emperor in 1810. The cartoon shows her in bed, feet sticking out at the bottom, while she says 'My Dear Nap: your bed accommodations are very indifferent! Too short by a yard! I wonder how Josephine put up with such things even as long as she did!!!' to which ‘Nap’ replies: 'Indeed Maria I do not well understand you: the Empress Josephine who knew things better than I hope you do, never grumbled. La Diable! I will never be able to get what I want after all!!!' There is of course the underlying implication that Maria Louisa is talking, not about the length of the bed, but about her husband’s manhood. His first wife Josephine knew about ‘these things’ because of her allegedly adulterous affairs, whereas he hoped that the virtuous Maria Louise was a complete innocent! Poor Napoleon: in his first marriage he was ridiculed for being unable to satisfy his wife’s demands (we still chuckle at the thought of 'Not tonight Josephine') and in his second marriage the cartoonists suggest that he wasn’t getting it at all ! It just goes to show, there is nothing new under the sun about making jokes about the lack of sexual prowess of your enemy!" Image from article

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About Me

a Princeton PhD, was a US diplomat for over 20 years, mostly in Eastern Europe, and was promoted to the Senior Foreign Service in 1997. For the "Open World Leadership Center Trust Fund" program, he lectures to its participants on the topic of "E Pluribus Unum? What Keeps the United States United." Currently affiliated with Georgetown University, he writes and shares ideas about public diplomacy. He is particularly interested in the relationship between public diplomacy and propaganda.
The papers of his deceased father -- poet and diplomat John L. Brown -- are stored at Georgetown University Special Collections at the Lauinger Library. A partial description of these papers (some 80 boxes of material, valuable to researchers interested in post-WWII U.S.-European cultural relations) is available online.
This blog is dedicated to him, Dr. John Lackey Brown, who wrote in the Foreign Service Journal (1964): "The CAO [Cultural Affairs Officer] soon comes to realize that his job is really a form of love-making and that making love is never really successful unless both partners are participating." These wise and tender words were written years before "soft power" was ever coined.